Designer Hot Pink is a product of a planned breeding program which had the objective of creating new geranium cultivars with large florets and umbels, bright color, good weather tolerance, fast rooting, good shipping qualities and compact basal branching character without using growth regulators.
Designer Hot Pink originated from a self-pollination made in a controlled breeding program in West Chicago, Ill. Designer Hot Pink resulted from a self pollination of the tetraploid breeding line, PAS-B.
Female PAS-B is a proprietary breeding parent used in a breeding program. It is not commercially available. PAS-B is a semi-double, pink with medium green foliage. By comparison, Designer Hot Pink is a clear pink without any blue in the color compared to PAS-B which can show pink flowers with a blue undertone.
Designer Hot Pink was discovered and selected as one flowering plant within the progeny of the stated self-pollination by the inventor in a controlled environment in Santa Maria, Calif.
The first act of asexual reproduction of Designer Hot Pink was accomplished when vegetative cuttings were taken from the initial selection in a controlled environment in Santa Maria, Calif. by a technician supervised by the inventor. Horticultural examination of selected units demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for Designer Hot Pink are firmly fixed and are retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction.
Designer Hot Pink has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary significantly with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity, and day length. The following observations, measurements and comparisons describe plants grown in Arroyo Grande, Calif. under greenhouse conditions which approximate those generally used in commercial practice.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be basic characteristics of Designer Hot Pink which in combination distinguish this geranium as a new and distinct cultivar. These traits include basal branching without growth regulators, a spreading-mounded habit, lack of fruits, an unusually high resistance to botrytis.
Of the many commercial cultivars known to the present inventor, the most similar in comparison to Designer Hot Pink is Hot Pink Satisfaction (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,128). The bright pink flower color of Hot Pink Satisfaction is similar to Designer Hot Pink, but Designer Hot Pink corolla are distinguished with a white eye on the upper petals and darker veins. In contrast to Hot Pink Satisfaction, the new cultivar Designer Hot Pink has a high degree of weather tolerance and shows excellent resistance to botrytis. Designer Hot Pink has a spreading mounded appearance unlike Hot Pink Satisfaction which has upright branching.
The florets of Designer Hot Pink are more flat (less cupped) than Hot Pink Satisfaction but the petaloids of Designer Hot Pink are smaller and less numerous (0-3) than those of Hot Pink Satisfaction (3-5). Designer Hot Pink has a more compact habit when grown under field conditions. Designer Hot Pink averages 2-3 branches in a 10 cm pot compared with Hot Pink Satisfaction which averages 1.5-2.0 branches in a 10 cm pot. No pinching is required with Designer Hot Pink.